Your Right to Know

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoChris Russell | DispatchA sign on Oct. 19 warns drivers to stay in their vehicles because exotic animals are on the loose near Zanesville. The incident made Ohio look bad, Gov. John Kasich said.

Ohioans who own exotic animals, from
big cats and bears to monkeys and pythons, might have to get rid of them by Jan. 1, 2014, or face
having them confiscated.

A ban on private ownership of exotic animals is included in a “framework” proposal finalized
yesterday by a state committee representing government and animal-interest groups and appointed by
the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Although owners would not have to get rid of animals on the “restricted species” list before
2014, they would have to register them within 60 days of the effective date of a law, if the state
legislature approves one.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture would oversee “restricted species” regulations, according to
a summary of the proposal obtained by
The Dispatch. That is a change from previous versions, which envisioned the Department of
Natural Resources supervising the program.

The special working committee discussed but did not vote on the recommendation in a private
meeting yesterday. The proposal was not in legislative form; that presumably will come later.

The committee began meeting prior to the Oct. 18 incident in which law-enforcement officers were
forced to shoot 56 animals, including bears, lions, monkeys and tigers, after they were set free by
their owner, Terry W. Thompson of Zanesville. Thompson committed suicide after releasing the
animals. Six animals remain in quarantine at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium.

Gov. John Kasich lit a fire under the committee last month, complaining that the state looked
bad because of the animals incident. He said a proposal will be produced by Nov. 30.

“The governor is pleased with the direction in which they’re going,” Kasich spokesman Rob
Nichols said yesterday. “He looks forward to seeing their final recommendations and working with
the General Assembly to get them enacted.”

Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States,
said he was “encouraged by the general recommendation from the task force to crack down on private
ownership of dangerous exotic animals. Lions, tigers, chimps and other powerful wild animals do not
belong in our backyards or basements, and should only be found in their natural habitats or
accredited zoos and sanctuaries.

“It’s now time for the legislature to act. ...We should have no more human tragedies, nor any
mass shooting of wildlife.”

In contrast, Polly Britton, of the Ohio Association of Animal Owners, said her organization is “
not pleased that, the way things stand right now, our federally licensed facilities are not being
exempted, which means those facilities would suffer financially if not be shut down
completely."

One of many businesses that would be affected, Britton said, is Heaven’s Corner Zoo in Preble
County.

“If the proposal remains the same, we will undoubtedly oppose it,” she said.

Britton’s association was represented on the working committee, as were the American Zoological
Association, Zoological Association of America, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, U.S. Sportsmen’s
Alliance, Humane Society of the United States, Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services unit and the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association.

The summary contains few details. It does not include information from previous versions of the
proposal about specific civil and criminal penalties for breaking the law, requirements for
insurance, and implanting micro-chips under the skin of captive exotic animals.

However, it does spell out that ownership of animals on the restricted list after Jan. 1, 2014,
could be “subject to immediate confiscation and forfeiture.” The law would include “conditions for
entry onto private property for purposes of inspection and enforcement” of the animal
regulations.

Zoos, circuses and research facilities would be exempted. Animal sanctuaries and propagators
could have animals that are on the list, but they would have to be licensed.